S.Africa admits paying $10 mn but denies FIFA bribe

Yahoo – AFP, Agnes Pedrero, 31 May 2015

FIFA president Sepp Blatter on May 30, 2015 in Zurich after being 

re-elected (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Geneva (AFP) - South Africa admitted Sunday that it paid $10 million in 2008 but denied it was in any way a bribe to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, in the latest twist to the massive corruption scandal engulfing world football's governing body.

Two separate investigations are being carried out by American and Swiss authorities for alleged rampant and long-running corruption within FIFA, with several top officials arrested and accused by US investigators of taking tens of millions of dollars in bribes.

Several top football officials have been questioned by Swiss investigators, Bern said, and FIFA's president Sepp Blatter too could be quizzed "in the future if needed", according to Swiss prosecutors.

The biggest scandal to rock world football erupted Wednesday when seven FIFA officials were arrested in their Zurich hotel as part of the US probe.

They and seven others were charged for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies that ran from 1991 to present day, and accused of taking or conspiring to solicit for $150 million in bribes.

An example cited in US papers was the 2004 selection process for the 2010 World Cup, with investigators claiming that South African officials paid $10 million to former FIFA vice president Jack Warner -- one of the 14 indicted -- in order to secure the bid.

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan, pictured on

 May 28, 2015, confirmed that the World Cup organising committee paid 

$10 million in 2008, after South Africa won the bid in May 2004 but

insisted this was not a bribe (AFP Photo)

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan confirmed on Sunday that the organising committee made a payment of $10 million in 2008 but insisted this was not a bribe.

"I haven't paid a bribe or taken a bribe from anybody in my life. We don't know who is mentioned there (in the indictment)," Jordaan told the Sunday Independent.

"How could we have paid a bribe for votes four years after we had won the bid?" Jordaan said, adding that the payment was South Africa's contribution towards Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF) football development fund.

Warner was then also president of CONCACAF.

'Out of touch'

Swiss authorities were meanwhile running a parallel probe into allegations of bribery in the process over the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

The Swiss justice spokesman said the top football officials were interviewed as "people who could provide information", without giving further details.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA President

 Michel Platini after being re-elected, in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Michael Buholzer)

He added that Blatter "will not be questioned at this stage. If necessary, he will be in the future".

Seven senior FIFA officials are believed to be among those heard by investigators -- Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), Angel Miguel Villar Llona (Spain), Michel D'Hooge (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt) and Vitaly Mutko (Russia).

Two other current members of the Executive Committee who voted in 2010 for Qatar and Russia live in Switzerland -- Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini.

Swiss investigators were believed to be prioritising those living abroad as they were in town for a FIFA meeting on Saturday.

Blatter, who was re-elected to a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday despite the worst scandal to hit the organisation, has accused US investigators of using the arrests as an attempt "interfere with the congress" that returned him to power.

The 79-year-old Swiss has argued that while many hold him "ultimately responsible for actions and reputation of the global football community", he "cannot monitor everyone all of the time".

In an interview published Sunday by Swiss tabloid SonntagsBlick, Blatter said he "has been treated with zero respect" in the last few days.

He also said he was "very disappointed" by Platini, who has openly asked him to step down from the top job.

Platini has said UEFA will review relations with FIFA on June 6 while English Football Association chief Greg Dyke indicated England could be ready to back a European boycott of the World Cup.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted FIFA must make a new start following Blatter's re-election and said football's governing body was out of touch with the sport it serves.

"I have serious doubts that FIFA will be able to handle this massive task without making a serious new start," he told German daily Die Welt on Sunday.

"The gap between the machinations of their officials and the many players, coaches, parents, referees and fans around the world, who with a lot of passion, ensure every week that football lives, could not be greater."

Barclays has launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used 

for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP on May 31,

2015 (AFP Photo/Carl Court)

In underlining the far-reaching nature of the scandal, British bank Barclays announced it had launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP.

Barclays was among three banks with British headquarters named in the US indictment, which outlined how tens of millions of dollars were hidden in offshore accounts.

Another, Standard Chartered, said Friday that it was looking into two payments cleared by the bank that were mentioned in the indictment.

The third named bank, HSBC, has so far declined to comment.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said Friday that it "continues actively to assess material in its possession and has made plain that it stands ready to assist ongoing international criminal investigations".